Plastic Deformation

Questions to Answer:
How are dislocations related to plastic
deformation?
What are the mechanisms of plastic
deformation?
In the structure level, when does a material
(metal) deform plastically?
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Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Computations of theoretical strengths of
perfect crystals are found to be many times
greater than strengths obtained experimentally
can be explained by the presence of
dislocations
Recall: Dislocations
linear defects around which the atoms are
misaligned
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Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

To completely describe a dislocation, the
following must be known:
a. Dislocation line
b. Burgers vector,

describes the magnitude and direction

of the lattice distortion associated with a
dislocation
could also be described as the
closing vector in a burgers circuit
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Edge dislocation

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3

1
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 The two basic types of dislocations can be

described with respect to the burgers vector
b:
- Edge Dislocation: is perpendicular to the
dislocation line
- Screw Dislocation: is parallel to the
dislocation line
For metals, b points to the close-packed
crystallographic direction and the magnitude
is equal to interatomic spacing
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Slip and plastic deformation

Dislocation motion produces plastic deformation!

Slip
process of plastic deformation by dislocation
motion
Slip Plane
crystallographic plane that the dislocation
traverses
Macroscopic plastic deformation results from
the movement of dislocations in response to
an applied shear stress

Atomic rearrangements that accompany the motion of an edge

dislocation as it moves in response to an applied shear stress

Formation of a step on the surface of a crystal by the

motion of an edge dislocation

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Representation of the analogy between caterpillar and

dislocation motion.

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Formation of a step on the surface of a crystal by the

motion of a screw dislocation

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Responses of edge and screw dislocations to

an applied shear stress differ:
Edge dislocations move in a direction
parallel
__________
to the applied shear stress
direction.
Screw dislocations move in a direction
perpendicular to applied shear stress
______________
direction.

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Dislocation density,
is the number of dislocations in a material:
total dislocation length

volumeof material
or

Units:

no. of dislocations

area

mm
-2
mm3 or mm

values for some materials:

carefully solidified metals: 103 mm-2
heavily deformed metals: 109 to 1010 mm-2
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Characteristics of dislocations
The presence of dislocations results to shear,
compressive and tensile lattice strains in the
structure.
associated with the lattice strains are
stored lattice strain energies (about 5% of
the energy imparted during deformation) and
stress/strain fields in the vicinity of the
dislocations.

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 Edge dislocation:
Compressive stresses/strains in the vicinity of
the extra half plane;
Tensile stresses/strains below the extra half
plane

Screw dislocation:
Purely shear stresses/strains

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Regions of compression (green) and tension (yellow)

located around an edge dislocation.
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Interaction of dislocations

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Slip Systems
Slip Plane preferred crystallographic
planes where dislocations motion occurs
Slip Direction preferred crystallographic
directions where dislocations move
Slip System combination of slip plane
and slip direction

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Characteristics of slip
Slip is favored on close-packed planes
densest planes; greatest planar densities
Slip is also favored along close-packed
directions
densest directions; greatest linear densities

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Slip systems in the FCC structure.

{111} 1 1 0
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Slip systems

FCC and BCC metals: larger number of slip systems

relatively ductile
HCP metals: relatively brittle

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Slip in single crystals

Resolved Shear Stress, R
shear stress components at directions other
than parallel or perpendicular to the applied
stress direction

where,

R cos cos

- applied stress
- angle between the normal to the

slip plane and applied stress direction

- angle between the slip direction
and applied stress direction

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Geometrical relationships
between the tensile axis, slip
plane, and slip direction used in
calculating the resolved shear
stress for a single crystal.

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Critical resolved shear stress, CRSS

minimum shear stress required to initiate
slip in a particular slip system
material property that determines when
yielding occurs

CRSS y cos cos max

where y applied stress required to initiate

yielding (yield stress)

criteria for yielding:

Rmax CRSS

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Macroscopic manifestation of slip

Slip in a zinc single crystal.

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Slip in polycrystalline materials

For polycrystalline materials,
slip occurs within each grain.
Deformation will only occur
macroscopically if each grain
is capable of slip.
Thus, polycrystalline metals
are stronger than their single
crystal counterparts.
Slip lines on the surface
of a polycrystalline
specimen of copper.

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Alteration of the grain structure of a polycrystalline

metal as a result of plastic deformation.
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Deformation by twinning
another mechanism of plastic deformation
movement of planes of atoms in the lattice
parallel to a specific (twinning) plane so that
the lattice is divided into 2 symmetrical parts
which are differently oriented
common for BCC and HCP metals when
the slip process is restricted

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Schematic diagram showing how twinning results from an

applied shear stress .
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Slip vs. Twinning

Lattice orientation

Amount of slip

Slip

Same before and

after deformation

Multiples of
atomic spacing

Twinning

Reorientation across Less than atomic

the twin plane
spacing

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Sample Problem
Consider a single crystal of BCC iron oriented
such that a tensile stress is applied along a
[010] direction.
(a) Compute the resolved shear stress along a
(110) plane and in a 111 direction when
a tensile stress of 52 MPa is applied.
(b) If slip occurs on a (110) plane and in a
111 direction, and the critical resolved
shear stress is 30 MPa, calculate the
magnitude of the applied tensile stress
necessary to initiate yielding.
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Summary
Dislocation motion in response to a shear stress
causes plastic deformation. SLIP
Dislocation motion is favored along close-packed
planes and close-packed directions.

Yielding occurs when .

Twinning is another mechanism of plastic
deformation and involves movement of planes of
atoms in the lattice parallel to a specific (twinning)
plane.
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